Robert Michaud earns Maine Space Grant Consortium scholarship supporting research at Saint Joseph's College

STANDISH, ME (04/29/2013)(readMedia)-- Robert Michaud Jr. '14 of Limington, Maine, a double-major biology/pre-medicine and psychology student at Saint Joseph's College of Maine has been awarded a $3,000 scholarship through the Maine Space Grant Consortium to pursue research of interest to NASA.

Submitted to a panel of Saint Joseph's professors, his research proposal, after successful execution in the laboratory, can be applied in different settings of space exploration.

Michaud's research seeks to find connections between bacteria found on participants' hands, their demographic profiles and their contact with any particular animals. The goal is to find how humans and animals have complementary or negative bacterial relationships, and exactly what bacteria transfer or do not transfer from human to animals and vice versa.

"This will be useful for NASA," Michaud says, "if they intend on having any prolonged exposure to animals during future space expeditions. This research may also be used for any development of biodomes. Humans and animals would be even closer in proximity in these closed systems than they are now, and this research could lend to understanding how this may affect human life."

The scholarship will support Michaud in his research costs; allowing him to travel to related conferences to present his findings; and help bring the relevant technology to the College and the state.

The Maine Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) is a nonprofit corporation and a member of the national network of consortia in all 50 states including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. The network is funded by NASA's National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program (also known as Space Grant). Congress established Space Grant in 1988 to contribute to the nation's science and engineering enterprise. MSGC's affiliates are undergraduate and graduate institutions, nonprofit research laboratories, state agencies, technology-based businesses, and science and education organizations.

MSGC's mission is to improve their affiliates' research infrastructure in areas of mutual interest to NASA and the state of Maine; encourage more students to consider careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); and enhance NASA's presence throughout Maine.

Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shore of Sebago Lake, the college offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.